


all the same organs of feeling DVD commentary

by JulisCaesar



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Author Commentary, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:02:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24345454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JulisCaesar/pseuds/JulisCaesar
Summary: Fic commentary forall the same organs of feeling
Comments: 9
Kudos: 38





	1. the flesh (with citations!)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [all the same organs of feeling](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24258169) by [JulisCaesar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JulisCaesar/pseuds/JulisCaesar). 



A large part of why I wrote this fic was to help correct impressions (overly positive _and_ overly negative) of the food industry, but there's only so much I would expect a stranger to take on faith. Here find sources and commentary on why things happened the way they happened.

Both atsoof and this will be multi-chapter, so some preliminary thoughts:

  1. I have a BSc in Psychology and a MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour & Animal Welfare. _This is my shit_. I know of what I speak. Comments will be moderated, and while honest questions are welcome, attacks are not.
  2. I want it to be crystal clear what is plausible real animal behaviour and what is the Entities. As a rule, all behaviour before the explicit introduction of an Entity will be plausible; anything after is fair game.
  3. To the extent reasonable (aka I have 2 degrees in this and don't have all the necessary sources to hand; some things just come down to "I've been there and seen it"), I want to provide sources and follow-up reading on the settings and situations.
  4. Some of these chapters will deal with upsetting topics, and I don't feel I can ethically release them into the wild, so to speak, without providing some sources for your own mental health.
  5. Writing predominantly about animals means that Jonny's prohibited 4 topics (tentacles, sexual assault, pet death, and non-supernatural stories) are all back on the table.



Without further ado: DVD commentary for Rosa Gutierrez's statement.

  * In the US, animals are delivered, live, to a slaughterhouse. They are processed (aka: killed) ideally shortly after arrival, and their bodies are reduced to major cuts and waste. Both groups can go onto a meat packaging plant: A lot of the meat in your dog and cat food comes from parts of your chicken and beef you're not willing to eat. The bulk of the meat packaging is done elsewhere. The slaughterhouse is just for turning 1300 lbs of cow into something more manageable.
  * Some slaughterhouses specialize in poultry or meat (cattle and pigs). Others do both of those. Still others do both of those plus 'others', which in the US is mainly sheep.
  * Working in a slaughterhouse can, depending on management, predispose workers to psychological harm. (I have also personally visited a slaughterhouse which was proactive on this front.) This is true around the world, although I personally suspect that care for animal welfare and care for _human_ welfare track together. However, American slaughterhouses in particular have a nasty history of sacrificing workers' bodies for profits. American slaughterhouses have a track record of trying to refuse health insurance, not pay workers' compensation claims, and preferentially hiring undocumented workers.
  * The primary source here is [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughterhouse#Worker_exploitation_concerns), which helpfully links to further reading. But an important secondary source, especially in May 2020, is [this Atlantic article](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/essentials-meatpeacking-coronavirus/611437/).
  * Chickens are in fact brought in in packed crates, hung upside down by their ankles, and passed through an electrified water bath to stun them. Then their throats are cut. There are many, many places for this process to go awry; I have detailed just a few. See [here](https://www.chickencheck.in/faq/how-chickens-slaughtered-processed/) for a pro-industry perspective.
  * Another pro-industry perspective on chicken growth rates [here](https://www.chickencheck.in/faq/difference-faster-slower-growing-chicken/). Please note that broiler chickens do not, in fact, have strong legs. [This study](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0001545) on British chickens found that despite regular culling of lame birds, over 25% of chickens studied were lame.
  * Feather loss: Loss of feathers is a bad sign in a broiler because the potential causes are a) being attacked by other birds, b) parasites, or c) stress. See [here](https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/chicken-feather-loss-cause-and-cure) for other reasons chickens lose feathers, but keep in mind that many are not applicable to broilers.
  * Double muscle: [actually a thing in cows](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-muscled_cattle). Not a good thing for cows either.
  * Pet food vs human grade: As mentioned above, a lot of pet food comes from the parts of the animal we don't like to eat. Some, however, comes from animals not considered delicate enough for the human supply chain, like ex-laying hens. [Source](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/egg-laying-hens_n_59c3c93fe4b0c90504fc04a1)
  * Beak trimming: Painful. While I won't go so far as to say that chickens _only_ turn to cannibalism and feather plucking when bored and stressed, those are unequivocally contributing factors. [Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debeaking#The_pain_of_beak_trimming)
  * Weak bones: Laying hens have chronically weak bones, as calcium used for bone strength is stripped to provide egg shell. This problem could be mitigated by encouraging or requiring the hens to move around--but that's a lot of effort when you can just keep them in battery cages instead. [Source](https://edepot.wur.nl/161696)
  * Cattle are different from chickens! They really do get a captive bolt gun to the head. The captive bolt gun stuns them by either a) giving them a concussion and knocking them out or b) driving a shard of skull into their brain and killing them. If method A is followed, the animal is then bled out through a cut on the chest--since this happens anyway, the concern is more that the animals are definitely unconscious than definitely alive. On the other hand, if method B is followed, there's an increased risk of brain-bits ending up in the bloodstream and thus transferring prions, such as those that cause BSE or mad-cow. See [here](http://www.grandin.com/ritual/euthanasia.slaughter.livestock.html) for more details.
  * For the record, a captive bolt gun is exactly what it sounds like: A gun that fires, instead of a bullet or shell, a bolt which is prevented from entirely leaving the gun. It can then be retracted and used again. See [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_bolt_pistol) .
  * Cattle chutes: Also called races. Temple Grandin, who I have cited extensively because she's the foremost author on high welfare slaughter systems, has some good notes on these [here](http://www.grandin.com/design/chute.ramp.race.design.html).
  * Cattle taking several minutes to adjust to intense light shifts: I don't have a source on hand. I learned this in two places, one of Temple Grandin's books and in a Master's level lecture, but can't find my notes on either at the moment.
  * Cattle fears: [This paper](https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-animal-031412-103713) refers to fear of novel noises and sights, sharp shifts between light and darkness, and hanging fabrics. [This one](http://www.grandin.com/ritual/euthanasia.slaughter.livestock.html), already mentioned above, talks about when blood is a fear and when it isn't. Both address a common misconception: That because animals are scared upon arriving at the slaughterhouse, what they are scared of must be death. Instead, cattle, chickens, etc, are _generally_ scared upon arrival at a new location. They are generally scared, period. They are not _particularly_ scared of being killed.
  * Dairy cows lose an immense amount of calories through milk, see [here](https://extension2.missouri.edu/g3170). Farmers selling dairy cows at unhealthily low weights rather than fattening them up comes primarily from personal observation at an auction house where cattle were being sold directly to the abattoir, but can also be seen implied in this [paper](https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-animal-031412-103713).
  * Fear of humans: That cattle and sheep move away from humans is the cornerstone of all livestock handling. See [here](http://www.grandin.com/behaviour/principles/flight.zone.html) for how to get cattle to move.



I think it's possible to consume meat ethically, although difficult. I wanted to draw attention to the basic welfare problems underlying modern livestock production, and how easily they can be remedied. I also wanted to flag up Jonny's inaccurate impression of how livestock view slaughter--there's no need to project our own fears onto animals to make meat production seem worse. It's quite bad enough as it is.

The other chapters in this series are...lighter, relatively. The footnotes should also be much shorter.


	2. the corruption

  * I work for a big box pet store and crickets are the bane of my entire existence




	3. the slaughter

  * Without completely identifying myself, I am super intimately familiar with Edinburgh and surrounds, and have biked through Nine Mile Burn (a real place!).
  * Much of this is pulled directly from a research project I did on sheep worrying, which is a) illegal, b) horrible to both sheep and their owners and c) increasingly common. [Source](https://csjk9blog.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/apgaw-livestock-worrying-report-2017-1.pdf)
  * Crofting and smallholding are not interchangable terms but I don't understand enough about land use law to tell you the difference. In common parlance, either refers to someone who has enough land for some livestock and some crops, and either barely supports themself and their family, or uses these as a supplement for a job.
  * [Scottish blackface](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Blackface): A large, coarse-wooled sheep with white wool and a black face & legs (often with white markings). The most common sheep breed in the UK, and used for meat, not wool.
  * Pentlands: Range of hills south of Edinburgh. Gorgeous, good for biking if you hate your thighs, covered in sheep and ancient ruins.
  * The statement giver practices what's called extensive sheep farming (as opposed to intensive, i.e. labour intensive), where the sheep go most of the year without interacting with a human. With a hardy breed (like the blackface) this is a very cheap approach, as the sheep take care of themselves. However, there will be welfare issues in the form of a) an injured or diseased sheep is not likely to receive prompt aid and b) in order to help that sheep, the rest of the flock will inevitably be put under stress.
  * Tupping: covering/mating/breeding.
  * Disposal of dead sheep: Yes, the owner has to send them off and yes, they are responsible for all costs. Yes, this is deeply frustrating to someone who's just lost part of their livelihood. See [here](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/fallen-stock#fallen-stock)
  * There is a genuine, persistent, and validated belief of sheep owners that dog owners don't understand worrying. See [here ](https://www.nationalsheep.org.uk/workspace/pdfs/2013-survey-bullet-points.pdf)
  * [Sheep fear](http://oro.open.ac.uk/58696/)
  * [Mass sheep panics](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/08/116-sheep-die-worst-sheep-worrying-living-memory)
  * Triplets: Ewes often throw twins and raise them handily, but triplets can be tricky. See [here](https://www.cafre.ac.uk/2020/03/the-triplet-lamb-debate-what-to-do-with-the-third-lamb/)
  * Hand raising: Also tricky and not for the faint of heart (or fond of sleep). See [here](https://www.countryfarm-lifestyles.com/raising-lambs.html)
  * Underreporting of sheep worrying is a huge problem. Sheep worrying should not be a regular occurrence for sheep farmers, but it is. Please report attacks to your local authority. [Source](https://www.nationalsheep.org.uk/workspace/pdfs/2016-results.pdf)
  * Collies: In the UK, a collie is a border collie. In the US, a collie is a rough collie. Bess and Jesse are border collies.




	4. the web

  * Racism: I'm not going to say all tourism is racist or that all African tours are racist but holy cow, a lot of them sure are. At the same time, expensive tours _can_ provide necessary cash influx to communities. It's not an easy situation. But there are better and worse ways to do it, and importing a woman from the UK because her accent and credentials are more conventional than an equally competent (but black) Tanzanian is not...a better way. Yes it's deliberate that Katherine both calls out and enables racism in her industry. It's a mess.
  * Jane Goodall: World famous pioneering researcher into wild chimpanzee behaviour; just about every zoologist in the last 50 years (and an even higher proportion of those who are not straight white cis-men) has been inspired by her. Among other things, she kicked off an ongoing trend of classifying all great ape research as a form of anthropology, which means you can use anthropological theories on them instead of the anthropomorphism-obsessed painfully literal theories promoted by ethologists (study of animal behaviour) (although this in turn, thank God, is falling out of favour).
  * There is a fairly true stereotype that animal researchers of all stripes are more interested in non-human animals than in members of their own species. It is _also_ true that human interaction is required by just about all careers and going in saying "I like animals more than people" won't get you very many jobs.
  * Chimpanzee tourism (and great ape tourism as a whole) is both really heavily regulated and _really_ prone to abuse. For this section and structuring the plot, I relied upon [this paper](https://bioone.org/journals/primate-conservation/volume-24/issue-1/052.024.0106/Chimpanzee-Tourism-in-Relation-to-the-Viewing-Regulations-at-the/10.1896/052.024.0106.full)
  * Chimpanzee social structure: Horrifyingly complex, like middle school if we were allowed to bite each other. Honestly, one of the hardest parts of this one was to draw an effective dividing line between "perfectly normal chimpanzee behaviour" and "chimpanzee behaviour if run by a supernatural fear entity" because to a large degree, _chimpanzees are just Like That_. Partial source for this [here.](https://news.janegoodall.org/2018/07/10/top-bottom-chimpanzee-social-hierarchy-amazing/)
  * This blog talks about the real-life Mahale troop and some of their recent alpha change-overs.
  * I also referenced [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANvzW_Uaaxw) of the Mahale troop males (cw: chimps are LOUD, also violence)
  * Some _more_ info on chimpanzee sociability, this time in scientific language (aka: very dense) [here](https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mitani/wp-content/uploads/sites/152/2014/08/mitani_et_al_2002a.pdf)
  * Ichiro Sato: The Mahale research project is largely staffed by Japanese nationals and has received financial support from the Japanese government, see [here](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-22514-7_15)
  * Tanzania spiders: Not your biggest concern. See [here](https://tanzaniasafariclub.com/posionous-insects-spiders-tanzania/)
  * Poaching: [Yup](https://theconversation.com/chimpanzees-are-being-killed-by-poachers-researchers-like-us-are-on-the-frontline-protecting-them-123699).




	5. the hunt

  * Fox hunting (with a live fox) is illegal in England and Wales as of 2004 and Scotland as of 2002; it remains legal in Northern Ireland which is part of why this fic isn't set there :) [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_hunting#United_Kingdom)
  * I'm not going to link them, but justifications for fox hunting are easy enough to find and I basically quoted them here. Yes, the riders look down on drag hunts as missing the point. This is a _phenomenally_ snobbish activity.
  * The Barton Hunt does not actually exist, however locations are real and distances...approximate.
  * The two leaders of a fox hunt are the field master (who makes sure the riders all stick together) and the huntsman (who handles the hounds). The whipper-in is the person who helps the huntsman keep the hounds on track. Subscribers are the people who financially support all of this. A pack of hounds (which can get quite large) may be privately owned by the huntsman and/or field master, but may also be collectively owned by the hunt, and either way the subscribers support the upkeep of the dogs. Furthermore, both the whipper in and kennelman (caring for the hounds when not on a hunt) are often professionals--not enthusiasts, and from a distinctly lower social class. There's a distinctly nasty class rivalry between the people who do this because they can afford to and people who do it because they are paid to.
  * See here for more on the function of a fox hunt (and incidentally, how to destroy one, should that come up): [link](https://www.huntsabs.org.uk/tactics/tactbook/foxhunt.html)
  * And here for real actual jobs real actual people can get paid to do in 2020! What the fuck. [link](https://www.huntsabs.org.uk/tactics/tactbook/foxhunt.html)
  * A couple of hounds is a pair of hounds. 20 couples is 40 hounds. 40 hounds are _loud_.
  * Despite the job of the Field Master being to keep the field in line, they also have a reputation for leading by example, aka being a snobbish prick. Huge shoutout to both the FM here and the statement giver going to Eton--a 13-18 boys-only boarding school with a reputation for being one of the most racist, sexist, elitist organizations in a notoriously racist, sexist, and elitist country.
  * An amazing paper looking at fox hunting as an anthropological exercise: [here](https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/ae.1981.8.2.02a00040)
  * The description of the Hunt comes courtesy of the Peterborough Chronicle, which gives "Many men both saw and heard a great number of huntsmen hunting. The huntsmen were black, huge, and hideous, and rode on black horses and on black he-goats, and their hounds were jet black, with eyes like saucers, and horrible" [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Hunt#Britain) (although if we really want to be pedantic--always--they're wide-eyed, not saucer-eyed, [source](http://www.strangehistory.net/2018/04/22/monsters-with-eyes-like-saucers/))
  * Proper pinks: Members of the hunt staff wear scarlet coats, which are called pinks for arcane classist reasons, while participants who aren't staff wear black coats. Tack is supposed to be brown, not black. I am not making any of this up but god I wish I was. coat [source](https://www.janeausten.co.uk/in-the-pink-dressing-for-a-fox-hunt/), tack [source](https://www.foxhuntinglife.com/foxhunting-horse-a-hound/sampler/2293-hunting-attire-tack-and-appointments-sampler)
  * Devereux's friend works in government, just in case anyone was wondering what an upper class snot he was




	6. the spiral

  * Worth just, right off the bat, pointing to Jonny's statement in the s4 Q&A that elephants are capable of evil (and presumably, therefore, of being Avatars).
  * Anyway.
  * The elephants in this statement are 'desert elephants', which are a largely isolated population of the African bush elephant. There's ongoing debate over whether they count as a subspecies or not that I won't get into here. Importantly, they have smaller family groups than other bush elephants (a handful or so, instead of their cousins, who start with herds of 8 and carry on upwards to around a hundred). source
  * It's long been known that survival in the Namib depends entirely on the memory of the oldest female. There are a dozen ephemeral rivers in the desert, and herds can travel over 43 miles in a night to reach the next watering hole.
  * The Namib is really, really odd, even for a desert. It's the world's oldest and second driest, has the second largest set of sand dunes, and has a long ocean border. The sand dunes can be over 900 ft tall and 20 miles long. While the elephants largely remain in the northern, inland, and rocky portion, it's not uncommon for them to pass through the sand dunes. [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namib)
  * Elephant grandmas, matriarchs, are essential in group cohesion and survival. I'm not as well versed in desert elephants as bush elephants, so forgive me for not linking to specific papers but here's a nice article on the elephants in Tanzania.
  * In particular, it's theorized that grandmothers are the ones who remember where the watering holes and food sources are, which is obviously key in a place like the Namib Desert.
  * At the same time, young adult males disperse and, in the desert population, spend the rest of their lives alone.
  * Elephants can go days without water! Male desert elephants can do up to 5, while females have only been seen up to 3 (but that may be because babies, not because of an intrinsic sex difference).
  * It's not uncommon for African elephants to lose a tusk or part of one. I knew a zoo elephant who had the exact configuration described.
  * Elephant charges come in two forms: A threat display with flared out ears and bellowing, often with a raised head, and a much faster, silent, and head lowered version. Unfortunately the threat display can also quickly turn into the serious form, because elephants don't fuck around.
  * The average size of a cow is 8.5 feet at the shoulder and 6,000 lbs so no, a charge is not an easily forgettable event.
  * Elephant pranks and revenge: Yup. Grandma in this chapter is based off an Asian elephant I knew who figured out how to unscrew all the bolts in her new house. All elephant zookeepers I've talked to have confirmed that elephants play favorites and heaven help you if you're not one, 




	7. the stranger

Dog training is a topic near and dear to my heart, and also my current job. So as with the Flesh statement, I will do my best to cite sources, but a lot of this is such common knowledge amongst dog trainers that publications are scarce.

I would recommend not reading this commentary until you've read the statement.

* * *

The NotThem didn't do anything to Max; everything about this scenario draws from case studies or dogs I have known. Max's behaviour is a perfect storm of 1) the wrong dog in the wrong home, 2) bad timing, 3) missing knowledge of dog behavior and 4) inappropriate training for the problem. As benefits a statement about the Stranger, _almost everything in this statement_ is impacted by an unreliable narrator. Katherine consistently misidentifies and misattributes Max's behavior, as well as leaves out critical details. These gaps are filled in here for your benefit.

  * Good dogs are made--and born. There is both a major genetic component (are the parents the sort of dog you want? are they emotionally stable? do they have health or behavior issues?) _and_ a huge factor in how you raise them. ([source](https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/behavior/is-our-dogs-behavior-genetic/))
  * The first problem with Katherine's dog is that he's from field lines. Field labradors are very intense, high energy dogs. They're supposed to be! Their job is running through bogs and marshes to find game and bring it back. But Katherine's lifestyle doesn't suit a high energy dog. She takes him for walks, but there's nothing in her statement about off lead exercise or training beyond the very basics ("he _was_ so good in the classes"). **Factor 1: Max just isn't suited for this household.** ([source](https://www.loveyourdog.com/english-lab-vs-american-lab/) on field vs show labs, otherwise known as American vs English or field vs bench. despite all this, the main factor here is that Max's parents were active hunting dogs.)
  * Dogs go through fear periods, when they are predisposed to form phobias of new, scary events, objects, and people. The second fear period happens later than many owners realize--in large dogs, like Max, as late as 12-14 months. So even owners who are aware that their new puppy needs to be coddled through new situations may not still be doing so by the time the dog is physically an adult. So Max here is in a fear period... ([source](https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/dont-panic-training-through-and-around-puppy-fear-periods/))
  * Party poppers produce a sharp, loud noise that, much like gunfire, fireworks, or thunder, many dogs find distressing. Max, at a year, has never been exposed to any of these and is shocked by the sound. **Factor 2: Horrible timing. Max is set up to make new fears, and he's exposed to a scary noise _._**
  * Katherine, unfortunately, doesn't realize it as such. If Max had a more fearful personality, he might have shown more typical dog body language when scared, such as--as she identifies--the tail tuck. Unfortunately, Max responds, as some dogs do, by asserting himself. Instead of displaying fear and retreating, he turns to defensive/fear aggression. His tail remains out and wagging, which isn't a straight forward sign of pleasure, but rather a cue that the dog is worked up about something. And his lips pull back and become taut--which looks to Katherine like a smile, but is in fact a stress signal. See here ([link](https://www.friendsofthedog.co.za/uploads/6/0/9/1/6091047/smiling-dog-happy_orig.jpg)) for the difference between a stressed (left) dog with tight lips and the same dog, now calm, with relaxed lips (right). And here ([link](https://www.flickr.com/photos/lilita/5652847156/sizes/l/)) for more on dog body language.
  * For the next two weeks, Katherine ignores the signs that something has gone very wrong. One of the biggest dangers with the fear period is that dogs are much more willing to become afraid of anything associated with a negative event. Instead of just developing a phobia of fireworks (not unreasonable, and very common in dogs), Max broadens his fear to avoiding the garden and the back door. Then the car backfires, and Katherine's immediate response is a leashpop.
  * Popping the leash is a common piece of advice when the dog misbehaves. As a punishment tactic, it's more useful when the dog is wearing a choke chain or prong collar. But whatever the collar, the point is to distract, disturb, and distress the dog--to add some painful or unpleasant feeling to what the dog is doing, in order to encourage the dog to stop doing that. In this case, what Katherine wants is to stop Max from pulling on leash. But the problem with punishments is you can never be sure what associations the dog is making, and Max connects Katherine's leashpop with the car backfiring. Now he's learned that when scary noises happen, he gets hurt, and that Katherine is there.
  * The posture that she describes--I saw his eyes change. I can't describe it. That was the moment he was possessed. It was like my loving, happy dog had been replaced by a devil in the exact same shape--is called a hard stare. Here ([link](https://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/The-Look-Sam-225x300.jpg)) is one from a dog who wants his owner to back off of the candy bar (no one was harmed and the story ends happily, see [here](https://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/great-photo-of-hard-eye-what-to-do-when-you-see-it)). The hard eye is often given by dogs who feel that a) their next step has to be a bite and b) their other warnings aren't being listened to. Since this statement is given by a human, many of Max's other warnings are omitted.
  * Max has at this point learned that a) Katherine is not going to make him feel better and b) the garden, the back door, and outside in general is scary and full of bad things. Hence the regression in potty training and refusal to be put outside. Additionally, inappropriate elimination (weeing indoors) is often a symptom of stress--which Max is full of.
  * Dogs refusing to go places without being violent: Max here is almost a hundred pounds, but I have had just as much trouble trying to get a 20 pound dog to go somewhere. If you don't have a leash on them, dogs are _very fast_ and _very squirmy_. Good luck.
  * "I don't know what happened, I've tried, trainers keep asking, and I _don't_. There wasn't _anything"._ Poor Max gave every cue in the book that he wasn't interested in walks. 1) He avoids his owner when she picks up the lead. 2) He hides under an obstacle to get away from her. 3) He growls when she reaches out. 4) He snaps at the air, which is often the last warning before a bite. 5) Finally, he bites. **Factor 3: Missing knowledge of dog behaviour.**
  * There are two things here which Katherine doesn't acknowledge that I feel responsible for flagging up.
  * One is the severity of the bite. Most dogs don't go straight to a level 3 bite (see [here](https://prckc.org/wp-content/uploads/Canine-Bite-Levels.pdf) for Dr Ian Dunbar's bite hierarchy). I wrote this with the idea being that Katherine had purchased Max at 8 weeks old, and then he had not gone to puppy obedience classes until around 6 months--the only classes she took Max to were the obedience ones which taught her to leash pop, and historically compulsion based obedience only took dogs starting at 6 months of age. Unfortunately, dogs learn bite inhibition from first their siblings and mother, and then their owner and other dogs at puppy class. One of the things any good puppy class instructor will tell you is that **you want your puppy to bite**. All dogs, when provoked, _will bite_. Allowing your puppy to bite you now, when their jaws are small and their teeth super pointy, will help them learn (through your reactions) how much jaw strength to use when they're bigger. Bite inhibition has two parts: when to bite (as infrequently as possible) and how hard to bite (very lightly). At an extreme example, cases where toddlers trip over and genuinely injure large dogs, and are bitten _but not punctured_ themselves are 100% possible and I have heard of several from reputable sources. It is reasonable to expect a dog pushed beyond his limits to bite, but he should not go straight to a full, hard bite.
  * The other is that many severe dog bites are accompanied by the protestation that it was "unpredictable", and that nearly all of them are, in fact, extremely predictable. There are neurological conditions where dogs bite randomly, and there are trauma cases where the triggers are so subtle that the resulting bite is, to a human, unpredictable, but those are extremely rare (and in the latter case, the trauma itself is obvious and should be known to the owner). Instead, what has happened in these cases is the owner has deluded themself into believing that clear indicators of aggression (the hard eye, growl, air snapping) are no such thing, **or** they have punished this behavior, suppressed it, and so while the bite is unpredictable, the situation was clearly coming.
  * The vast majority of police K9 trainers use pain to train apprehension and crowd control dogs. The vast majority of trainers who bill themselves as being ex-police or ex-military use outdated, painful, and unnecessary methods to train pet dogs. (These are hard to cite for obvious reasons. However, police dog training websites talk regularly about required equipment like remote collars (e-collars), and I cannot count the number of trainers who use shock collars as a first resort who are ex-police.) The first trainer in this statement represents those people who believe that a well timed correction will cure all behavior problems. It will not. (see [here)](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201205/is-punishment-effective-way-change-the-behavior-dogs) **Factor 4: Inappropriate dog training methodology.**
  * As a side note: Dogs should not be used for crowd control. Black lives matter, and there is a nasty history of police officers setting their dogs on black people. See [here](https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/09/02/police-still-use-attack-dogs-against-black-americans/).
  * Alpha training has been discredited extensively and I won't go into it in depth here. The basic problems are that 1) wolf packs are not strictly hierarchical and higher ranked wolves do not violently enforce their rank, 2) even if they were, dogs are not wolves and do not structure their social groups the same way, and 3) even if they did, dogs are aware that humans are not dogs and do not interact with humans like they do with other dogs. See the following: [alpha training](https://dogtime.com/reference/dog-training/48563-alpha-dog-myth-dominance-training-mistreatment), [wolf pack structure](https://www.wolf.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/267alphastatus_english.pdf), [feral dog social structure](https://www.kora.ch/malme/05_library/5_1_publications/B/Boitani_&_Ciucci_1995_Comparative_social_ecology_of_feral_dogs_and_wolves.pdf) (note that the authors are not 100% up to date on Mech's wolf research, but very, very few people publish anything on feral dogs at all, let alone social structure), [difference between dog-dog and dog-human play](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159199000787).
  * Nothing in life is free (NILIF): a lot of otherwise decent programs rep this and I think they're misguided. NILIF creates a situation wherein the dog has to perform a behavior in order to receive anything--they have to sit to get food, to get attention, to go outside. And while on the one hand, my dog has to meet a certain baseline of good behavior before I'll pay attention to him, that baseline is _quite low_. If he's not screaming or chewing on me, he'll probably get some scritches. And most of the things he gets, he gets without having to jump through a hoop, because I've slowly built up some common patterns of behavior. At the same time, he always has access to his bed, to his crate, to water, and to chew toys. While he does need to "ask" to go outside, that's because we live in an apartment, and that asking is done by ringing his bell or standing by the door. (I don't have a whole lot to hand on NILIF but [here's](https://thecognitivecanine.com/blog/book-review-plenty-in-life-is-free/) a review on a book written specifically to counter that.)
  * In particular, I wouldn't recommend NILIF for Max, especially as a starting point, because Max isn't behaving assertively. He is being entirely defensive, and he needs a programme that respects his fears and his boundaries.
  * Of course, all of this pales before the use of a prong on a fear aggressive dog. Prongs cause pain and discomfort. The correct use of a prong, as stated by proponents, is to give the dog a correction when it misbehaves. This means that the impact of the prong has to be of a higher emotional intensity than whatever caused the unwanted behavior--otherwise it wouldn't register. In the case of a dog like Max, this means that the prong has to be used very, very harshly as the emotions are already so intense. See [here](https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/chokeandprongcollarpositionstatement) for more about prongs.
  * And that raises the very real risk that instead of decreasing his emotional intensity, the prong will increase it. Imagine if, when you were faced by a phobia (someone put a spider on you), and you freaked out (because there's a spider on you!!!), you were hit. Maybe that'll make you stop freaking out, at least outwardly--but maybe it won't, and maybe you'll spin around and throw the spider at the person who hit you because _what the fuck_. And no matter what, it won't make you feel better about spiders.
  * Prong collars also don't feel like the mother dog. This is nonsense. Bitches, when they correct their pups for biting too hard, will use their front teeth to give a pinch in a single location--but even this isn't necessary to change impolite puppy behavior, because far more often, she just gets up and moves away! A prong collar delivers pressure in a very different way, and again: Dogs know we aren't dogs!
  * Muzzles, meanwhile, are actually excellent devices if introduced properly. Show it to your dog with lots of peanut butter and only put it on for brief periods, and you shouldn't struggle with the dog wanting it off again. A muzzle is an amazing safety device with a dog who is a bite risk. I use one with my own dog when the cat is being a nuisance, because it just eliminates that possibility and makes me more comfortable--which in turn, makes him more comfortable. [Here's](https://muzzleupproject.com/) a lovely group for muzzling.
  * Max bites the night of Peter's party not because of the NotThem or because he's affected by the Stranger, but because of a concept called trigger stacking. In common English idiom, it's the straw that breaks the camel's back. He's had a bad day, with a lot of strange, scary, loud people, and where he's been isolated and bored for most of it. So one more bad thing and his shreds of emotional self control just vanish. (Visual [here](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57bfd627f7e0abe0fdcd9d18/1494054913780-WT7U1L71KGTBO2BJ62EL/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kNvHAs6pxZEvoVLQSslRXEwUqsxRUqqbr1mOJYKfIPR7LoDQ9mXPOjoJoqy81S2I8N_N4V1vUb5AoIIIbLZhVYxCRW4BPu10St3TBAUQYVKcoYN6d7okX1aXW5EYgfQiAgtLZ_hlAvs_M5wRpd6wQCM9oSKuRzsLQ_zqcpnA6kYX/trigger+stacking?format=750w), from [here](https://www.pawsitiveconnection.ca/reactive-dog-resources))
  * "I knew, thanks to the trainer, what his warning signals were. I corrected him for them, of course, because dogs shouldn't be aggressive towards humans". This is bullshit. This is why dogs are "unpredictably aggressive". Acknowledge and respect your dog's warning signals. Don't try to push through them, wait them out, or punish them. That only teaches the dog that the first signal wasn't enough and they need to escalate.
  * Coming up the line: Dog trainer parlance for a dog who, when corrected, throws themself up the lead to the handler. Obviously very nasty and appalling for all involved.
  * Silence: A very bad sign. Dogs who are posturing make a lot of noise, because noise is energetically expensive, but not as expensive as a full fight. A dog who is silent and aggressive thinks it's under serious threat and is acting on that.
  * Staring and then urination: Max does very badly need to pee at this point, but he also doesn't want to turn his back on Katherine if she's going to hurt him again. The urination isn't a dominant behavior, it's a biological need.
  * Dangerous Dogs Act (1991): A piece of UK law saying, among other things, that dogs who bite people need to meet certain standards (only being outside on lead and with a muzzle, etc) or be euthanized. They cannot be sold or rehomed, they cannot be bred. (see [here](https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/about-us/campaigns/dangerous-dogs-deed-not-breed))
  * Max being almost 100 pounds is certainly a factor in all of this (and is an indicator that he is not getting _remotely_ enough exercise), but make no mistake: Much smaller dogs can and have killed adult humans. Even smaller ones can kill children or infants. I don't say this to scare people, or convince them that dogs are dangerous. The number of people killed by dogs in the UK yearly is a tenth or twentieth of the number of people killed by guns. (2.8 deaths/year from dogs, [here](https://www.pets4homes.co.uk/pet-advice/four-interesting-statistics-about-dog-bites-that-might-surprise-you.html#), while [here](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/gun-deaths-eliminated-america-learn-japan-australia-uk-norway-florida-shooting-latest-news-a8216301.html) gives UK gun deaths at 50-60/year.) But many of those deaths were preventable, by being aware that the dog is a domesticated predator. Dogs can and will bite when provoked--or when _not_. Dogs are predators, and do not automatically recognize infants as being humans. Dogs like to chase small, screaming animals and put them in their mouths--and that describes a lot of toddlers. **Please** be aware of when your dog is around children, especially under 10s, and take special care.
  * Shock collars: Are going through a complicated process in the UK (Banned in Wales, may be considered abusive in Scotland, working towards a ban in England, see [here](https://www.bva.co.uk/take-action/our-policies/electric-shock-collars-and-training-aids/)). At the time this fic is set, they were legal. Like prong collars, they should absolutely not be used on fear aggressive dogs. Unlike prong collars, because the punishment can be precisely timed (prongs have a tendency to put some pressure on the dog constantly, and especially in the hands of an inexperienced handler can give poorly timed corrections), putting a shock collar on an anxious dog can result in a period of _improved mood_. Anxious dogs are constantly looking for the next punishment, and they now think they have a way to predict one. Because pain never comes except by way of the collar, because the collar is only used in certain situations, it can relieve a lot of pressure from the rest of the dog's life.
  * Unfortunately, just like a prong, a shock collar suppresses behaviour. It doesn't teach the dog appropriate behaviours, and it doesn't change the dog's emotions about anything. In this case, Max becomes 'collar-wise'. He learns that the shocks only happen when Katherine has the remote, and not being particularly fond of his crate, the threat of getting shocked for breaking out is ineffective. He's only stalled by the NotThem being particularly Not, which I think would give any dog a bit of a pause.
  * Long term muzzle use: Is something that should very much be discussed with a trainer and a vet. Generally, if you get one that's open (wire or Baskerville), your dog will be able to take food through them, but the Baskerville are flexible enough that dogs can (and have) land a bite. Max is therefore now on a wire muzzle, which leaves everyone open to being muzzle-punched--which is when the dog collides nose and mouth with you without actually biting.
  * "He saw me, and I stood upright like the trainers had both recommended. I reached for the remote, and at the same time, he lunged at me." This is one of those bites that from the perspective of the victim, looks completely unprovoked. But zoom out and you can see the sequence of events leading to this. Max has been traumatized and scared. His life is unpredictable and full of pain that he can't control. Rather than developing learned helplessness, though, he's learned very effectively that biting makes things stop. He's also learned that pain only happens when Katherine is holding the remote. Finally, the specific posture Katherine uses--a very upright, rigid stance with head, shoulders, and hips facing the dog--is read by dogs as very assertive. While this can work on some dogs who are primarily fearful, it will not (and does not) work on a dog whose anger or desperation overrides the fear.
  * Max's latest bite is a level 4. While at this point I still think there's hope for Max, given that his owner cannot legally sell him, and has shown no sign of being willing or able to work with him as he needs, euthanasia is frankly the kindest outcome.
  * Death here, as (I hope) elsewhere in this fic, is neutral. It means an end to happiness and joy and pleasure and new experiences, but it also means an end to uncertainty and sorrow and pain and fear. Max's life had no realistic hope of improvement. When euthanising a pet animal, such as a dog, the veterinarian uses a sedative first. Only once the pet is unconscious is the fatal dose administered. Thus, the only pain the pet feels is the first needle prick. Depending on the family and the vet, sometimes the owners are allowed in the room for the first part of the process. It is a painless, peaceful, dignified way to go.




End file.
